Chapter 4

Natalie took to the idea of accompanying Brigid and Carwyn like a maternal duck starved of water by two preteen ducklings.

Or something like that. She was practically bouncing in the back of the van. Baojia was driving north along the highway since he had to make calls while he drove, so Natalie had accompanied Brigid and Carwyn.

"Do you think I'll need to burrow?" she asked as they drove north on the Pacific Coast Highway. "I can burrow, you know. During the day? Baojia doesn't like it much, but I find it oddly soothing."

Carwyn watched Natalie in the rearview mirror. "That makes perfect sense; you're an earth vampire. I love a good burrow."

"Unfortunately" —Brigid turned to look at Natalie— "he's married to a vampire who does not. You two, however, are welcome to burrow in the woods. Just don't disturb the coastal redwood groves." She held up a small paperback book. "I've been reading. Their root systems are surprisingly shallow."

"They are," Natalie said. "I never dig there. But there are a lot of spaces in the forest where we can." She looked out the windows. "You can't see as much in the dark, but this coastline is nearly the end of the coast road. We're going to Katya's river house first, right?"

"We are." Carwyn steered the van through a twisting triplet of switchbacks that led them over another bridge and a waterfall he could hear in the distance. "The ocean is close here."

Natalie stared out the window. "Yes. It's why it's the perfect place for us. Baojia is so peaceful near the ocean. It makes a huge difference in his focus. And I'm happy as a clam as long as there are hills and forests."

"And deer."

Natalie grinned. "I never thought I'd enjoy venison as much as I do, but life is unexpected, right?" A shadow flickered over her face. "Thanks, you guys. I really appreciate you letting me tag along for this."

Brigid frowned. "Yer not taggin' along; aren't you our local contact, sure? We're not going to be able to find these two without ya. Speaking of finding the kids, did you get any line on those personal items we requested?"

"I think Katya has someone who discreetly visited their apartments in Seattle—I've learned not to ask questions—so we have some clothes. Luckily, they weren't meticulously clean college students. I imagine she has the clothes at the house."

Katya's Russian River home was just upstream from the bridge.

Carwyn spotted the sign for the turnoff a mile up the highway. "Has anyone from the Mackenzie clan requested passage to come look for her?"

"Yes," Natalie said. "Summer's father, Jamie Mackenzie, and one of their enforcers are already driving cross-country. They'll be two or three more days at most."

"And Daniel's family?" Brigid asked.

"Still conducting their own investigation and not open to collaboration the last time I called. They're still working with law enforcement for now."

Carwyn kept his eyes on the twisting road. "For now?"

"Let's just say that his family is accustomed to working within a system where private security is often more trusted than the police. They are also suspicious that a drug cartel might be involved based on the history of the area."

Brigid said, "The marijuana connection?"

Natalie nodded. "There are plenty of farms that are one hundred percent legal up here. There are also those who never wanted to be part of the capitalist system to begin with." She smiled a little. "Or at least that's what they say."

Brigid was like a tiny bulldog. "Do you have contacts in that group of people?"

Carwyn took the turnoff and headed right, winding along the dark road that tracked up the south side of the Russian River.

"I might." Natalie sounded cagey. "Okay, I do. Or I did. Don't know how many of them are still around, but I did a story on the Emerald Triangle about ten years ago when things were starting to move in the direction of legalization. I wanted to get the perspective of people who'd been living and growing up here for a long time. I kept those numbers."

"Will you call them?" Brigid asked.

"For now, let's see how far we can get on our own," Natalie said. "I'll call them if we have to."

"When is harvest season up here?"

"Roughly September through November, depending on the variety."

Carwyn exchanged a look with Brigid. "That fits."

"Yeah." Brigid looked in the rearview mirror. "For the past five years, a lot of people have gone missing in September."

"I'm not surprised," Natalie said. "Lots of humans come up here, thinking they can make some good money trimming or helping with the harvest, but it doesn't always end well unless you know the right people."

"So it's dangerous if yer not a local." Brigid raised a brow.

"Yeah, even vampires…" Natalie stared out the window and into the night forest. "We might be immortal, but there are still parts of those mountains where I'd be reluctant to go without an invitation." She looked pointedly at Brigid. "People disappear, and they've disappeared for a long time. Some of it is people who want to slip off the grid, but a lot of it is people stumbling into places they shouldn't be."

"We're here." Carwyn spotted the discreet security guards hiding in the trees across from the massive log-constructed house with wrought iron gates and a dense hedge of manzanitas. He rolled down the van window and spoke to one of the guards who stepped forward from the guardhouse.

"Can I help you?"

"Carwyn ap Bryn, Brigid Connor, and Natalie Ellis to see Katya."

The guard hunched down and looked into the back of the van. "Oh hey, Natalie. Didn't see you back there."

She pushed forward between the front seats. "Hey, Luke! Is Raven around tonight?"

"No, she's off. Is the boss with you?"

"He's on his way. I'd guess about half an hour behind us. He got caught on a phone call with Portland."

"Right." Luke stepped back and waved them through. "Head on in. She's expecting you."

A man and a woman pulled back the gates, and Carwyn drove slowly over the threshold and up a graveled driveway that encircled a stone-and-redwood gazebo at the center of the yard.

The house was bathed in warm light from discreet uplighting in the trees to the bright lights guiding guests toward the front door.

"So this is feckin' gorgeous," Brigid said. "I see Katya doesn't skimp on her homes."

"Definitely not," Natalie said. "And I'd say that she actually considers this place her main home. It's the closest to Fort Ross."

Carwyn maneuvered into a parking spot where an attendant was already motioning. "Is that where she came from as a human? Fort Ross?"

"I think that's where her father was from," Natalie said. "I just know that when she has extra time, it's spent here."

Brigid looked at Carwyn. "We're honored then."

Carwyn couldn't take his eyes off the house and the brilliant night sky above them. He could smell the river in the distance and the salty mist of ocean fog over the trees.

"Forget honored," he said. "I'm jealous."

They waited only fifteen minutes for Baojia to arrive, drinking tea and exchanging pleasantries with their hostess. Katya did look like a teenager, curled up in front of a cozy blaze in the massive stone fireplace that dominated the central room in what Carwyn could now see was a very fancy log cabin.

It reminded him a little bit of the lodge in Cochamó where his daughter Carla hosted guests. The fireplace reached to the roof while a second story ran along either side of the structure. Doorways opened onto twin landings that overlooked the main room of the house.

It was a relaxed atmosphere but not a lazy one. There was a chef in a thoroughly modern kitchen preparing a traditional Russian meal for them while a man and a woman looked at an array of maps spread on a broad dining table.

And by the fireplace, Katya Grigorieva oversaw all of them. Dressed in a pair of well-worn jeans and a wool fisherman's sweater, she was the picture of outdoor chic. Her hair was dark and lay in a long braid down her back, reaching nearly to her waist.

Though she was Russian by birth, Katya had wholly adapted to her modern West Coast territory. She spoke English, Spanish, Russian, and Chinese with equal ease, and one whole wall of her library looked dedicated to the newest tech in the vampire world.

On one monitor, the smiling faces of Summer Mackenzie and Daniel Uriarte were displayed, likely grabbed from some social media channel, which was the easiest way to track humans in the modern world.

On the table by the maps, Carwyn saw bagged clothes along with a cardboard box.

"If there are immortals involved" —Katya started the conversation— "which I'm inclined to believe since the young people still haven't been found, it brings up a host of related issues."

Baojia nodded. "I've been thinking that might be a part of it."

Rules of immortal leadership were clear: if a vampire couldn't control their territory, they weren't any kind of leader, which meant they left themselves open to challenge. Sometimes that challenge would come from an ally or insider, while at others it would be someone simply looking to take advantage of the situation.

Ambition was a powerful drug.

Baojia continued, "The question is, who might be making a move to take over?"

Natalie looked at her husband and winced a little. "I hate bringing it up, honey, but Ernesto has wanted to push north for ages. I don't think he'd try to undermine Katya by taking innocent students, but he'd definitely try to undermine Katya. So we can't discount that."

"No, we can't discount Ernesto." Baojia's expression was grim. Ernesto was his sire, but their relationship was… complicated. "I'll try to call my sister tonight. I do want to mention the Sokolovs though," he added. "Last I heard, their people were attempting to push into Alaska."

"Those bastards," Katya muttered. "But Alaska is not Northern California. That would be a very big reach. As much as I dislike them, Sokolov is probably at the bottom of the list." She rose and walked to a small bar cabinet. "Blood-wine, anyone? Alex will be finished with the meal soon."

"I'd love some," Brigid said.

Natalie raised her hand again. "Ditto for me."

"No, thank you," Baojia said, glaring at something in a file.

"Just a beer for me," Carwyn said. "So Ernesto Alvarez is an obvious suspect for practical reasons. I'd say the Sokolovs are a stretch, but they do have a history in human trafficking, and this could have been opportunistic."

"I can accept that as a possibility." Katya poured three glasses of wine and snapped out something in Russian to the chef before she turned back to Natalie, Brigid, and Carwyn. "I'll speak to my security heads farther north and tell them to keep on alert for any signs of incursion."

"Thank you," Carwyn said. "We also have to consider if this abduction is related to Summer's immortal connections or Daniel's family money."

"True." Natalie took the blood-wine Katya handed her. "Both are very real possibilities."

"I can tell you what I know about Summer." Katya handed a glass of wine to Brigid, then took her seat. "Keep in mind, this all comes from reports. Like Baojia, I've never met the girl in person."

The chef brought a tray of soup bowls to the living room and set them on the coffee table.

"I hope you don't mind if we eat while we work." Katya handed out bowls to Carwyn and Brigid. "My time tonight is limited. This is potato-and-leek soup. Alexis is preparing salmon and smoked trout for dinner."

"Thank you, Katya." Carwyn reached for the soup. "Judging from Summer's social media, she doesn't have a typical day person's life."

"She's not a typical day person," Katya said. "According to Logan, she's family. Her father was adopted into the Mackenzie clan by Logan and his mate. He grew up, got married, had Summer and her younger brother. A very ordinary life save for the fact that the people Summer called Grandmother and Grandfather were Scots-Irish vampires who came to fight in the American Revolution."

"That's the connection to my daughter-in-law," Carwyn said. "These Mackenzies come from the same line. Earth vampires, except for our Cathy, who ended up siring to fire."

Katya shook her head. "Not a pleasant life." She blinked at Brigid's expression. "I am simply being honest. Unlike you, most fire vampires live very isolated lives because of their element."

"No offense taken," Brigid said quietly. "Not every immortal can handle the stress of controlling the most unpredictable element."

Was it a jab? Carwyn hid his smile. Brigid was too clever and too politically smart to make it overt if it was. He quickly changed the subject. "So obviously, with the family connection, I consider this girl part of my extended family. Brigid and I are fully committed to finding the truth no matter what it is."

It was both a warning and a commitment. Carwyn didn't think Katya had any reason to target Summer Mackenzie, especially since the girl had been in her territory and an obvious rule-follower according to Baojia. But it never hurt to remind Katya that no one was off-limits in their investigation.

Katya leaned forward. "Listen, you're not going to get an argument from me. I do want to suggest that it's very possible this is far more mundane than any of us are suggesting though." She glanced at Natalie. "Nat and Baojia know that people go missing up here. This is one of the most productive marijuana-growing areas in the world. There are legal farmers and illegal ones. Legal traders and their black market counterparts."

Baojia added, "People have gone missing for years, and Katya's had to keep a tight rein on immortals in the territory from taking advantage of that situation. Some of the disappearances are accidents; some aren't. But if this is solely a human problem, we're going to need to back off." He glanced at his boss. "Officially, I mean."

Carwyn nodded. "Understood."

Katya continued, "Which means that—for now—you have all the access and help you want. But if we find out the kidnappers are human criminals, you are on your own. Our kind getting involved at that point would just make everything more dangerous."

Carwyn couldn't disagree with the woman, but he could tell by the look on Brigid's face that his mate did not approve. She was a champion for crime victims, human or vampire, and she didn't like the phrase "a human problem."

Nevertheless, she knew too much about immortal politics to say anything.

"So Ernesto," Baojia said, "the Sokolovs, or maybe someone targeting Mackenzie people. These are our main suspects."

"Or humans," Natalie said. "That's always a possibility."

"Indeed." Carwyn already had a plan forming. "Katya, I understand we're sleeping here today?"

"You are welcome." She gestured to the upstairs rooms with an open hand. "All guest quarters are light safe and secured from the inside for your comfort." She glanced over her shoulder. "Or you are welcome to sleep in your… little camper."

Carwyn looked at Brigid. "I think Katya may be mocking our tiny home."

"That's good," Brigid said. "We don't want her getting any ideas about stealing it once she finds out how feckin' fantastic it is."

Katya laughed, and suddenly her face appeared young again. "I see that I'm going to enjoy having you in my territory, Carwyn and Brigid. For now, let's eat."